Sky Captain: An Interview with 'Robots' Producer Jerry Davis
Some of America's most popular and beloved animated features, including Toy Story, The Iron Giant and Ice Age have been brought, at least partly, to the screen by Jerry Davis, co-producer of Robots , from 20th Century Fox's Blue Sky Studios.
Davis, whose career includes work on and off Broadway as well as for the annual Tony Awards telecast, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., talked to Box Office Mojo about Robots, The Iron Giant and what it takes to make today's top animation for movies.
Box Office Mojo: What was the first animated picture you saw?
Jerry Davis: Bambi, which my mother dropped me off at the movie theater to see. I remember being a bit frightened by it and, when I walked out of the theater, very excited to be reunited with my mom.
BOM: When did you first screen Robots?
Davis: I saw it in February when we finished the mix on the Fox lot. It's about as good as you're ever going to see it on the big screen with big, comfy couches. For me, it was a giant leap to watch it on film. There was so much going on in the frame that even I had not been aware of. It was just thrilling.
BOM: What is your favorite scene?
Davis: Probably the final scene in Rivet Town.
BOM: What are your thoughts on the final cut?
Davis: Comedy is a great thing, and I don't regret that it's dominant. As Robin Williams said at the Golden Globes, comedy is hard, and I'm proud of the fact we succeeded. Robots is also a fantasy and that's also hard because the audience needs to understand the rules, which requires screen time and, in a movie like this, there's not much screen time. We worked hard to make this movie. There were times when we were nervous because it's a very complicated movie. We tried to explain the story clearly and in an entertaining way. You're always struggling to take a step back and look at the movie as a whole. And it is pleasantly cohesive. I'm proud of it.
BOM: What is the movie's theme?
Davis: The movie's motto that "you can shine no matter what you're made of," which is a variation of [the cliché] "don't judge a book by its cover." For me, I guess the movie allows people to apply it on different levels. I find many parents respond to the idea of following a dream.
BOM: Why are you a producer?
Davis: That's hard to answer. For me, I don't have the vision to be a director. I have huge respect for people who do. So, to be able to support that vision is really rewarding. I love the process. I love the art form. I love that animated movies are something that people really care about and work their asses off [to create]. And, lastly, I can't draw. It's much more about the process. I'm the son of a Freudian psychologist who ran a school for emotionally disturbed children—I lived and worked there—and I grew up with a certain degree of craziness. So I know that artists need to be somewhat crazy, and I hope to bring some order to that process.
BOM: What did you contribute to Toy Story?
Davis: I was a part of the early development, so the deal with Pixar [Animation Studios] was fresh. I was involved in bringing in the first writing team, and it was very rewarding to identify such amazing talent. It would be hard to take ownership of any one aspect.
BOM: How did your path diverge from Pixar?
Davis: I was at Disney and then Warner Bros, which was pretty exciting—I spent five years there—where I started a feature animation division, which made movies such as [The Incredibles' director Brad Bird's first feature] The Iron Giant. We brought The Iron Giant into Warner Bros. and did a lot of the early development. I'd been talking to Tim McCanlies, who's a terrific writer with great characters, and he came in as screenwriter. We were struggling with how to adapt [Ted Hughes' book]. Brad [Bird] came in and really cracked it.
The book has a very different direction in the second half, and it was Brad who decided not to go with the [book's] second half, which goes off into this almost hallucinatory aspect with a space monster doing battle with the Iron Giant, who tries to save the earth. Brad found a way to express the free will aspect from the book. The Iron Giant began as a conversation with Des McAnuff, who was artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, who had collaborated with [rock musician] Pete Townshend [on an earlier stage adaptation of the book]. I was certainly key in that whole process.
BOM: How was working with Brad Bird?
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Davis: Inspiring, though I wasn't with the movie through the whole production. He brought in some wonderful design ideas.
BOM: Do you worry that computer-animated movies are more design than story?
Davis: I love the design aspect of these movies. I personally love that stuff. But it doesn't compensate for the lack of story. There are a fair number of original ideas. We're working on the Horton books [by Theodore Geisel, who wrote children's books, such as The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by the name Dr. Seuss]. I really hope we can take the new tools and apply them to the classics.
BOM: How did Blue Sky Animation get the name?
Davis: From the expression, "let's sit down and blue sky this idea," like imagining what one could do with all the money and talent in the world.
BOM: Does Blue Sky make pictures before writing the script?
Davis: There is some variation from project to project but the writing usually happens before the drawing. Storyboarding happens after we have the writing.
BOM: Blue Sky's creative philosophy embraces the idea that "what was law an hour ago might not be law an hour later." Is everything malleable?
Davis: That is true within reason, but we are all governed by laws and schedules. You can finish a scene but you go back to it later with the idea, "How can you make it better?"
BOM: How does Blue Sky's proprietary software, CGI Studio, aid in the animation process?
Davis: The ray tracing is the engine to the software. That's what gives [computer animated movies like Robots] its look—because it imitates what light does in the real world—the shadows and textures look incredibly photo-realistic. I find myself forgetting that I'm watching animation. It's the miracle of the software. The guys in Research and Development are perfectionists; they're like artists but their art is writing software.
BOM: Another Blue Sky motto is: "We were once individuals—we are now part of the collective." Does collectivism define the company's philosophy?
Davis: It's funny because, in making a movie, there is a demand that artists become part of a collective with many creative people who have to come together under the director's vision. But I wouldn't say that, as a culture, as a place to work, it's a collective. People here are extremely outspoken. We screened [Robots] for the crew and people pulled no punches.
BOM: Why is computer animation in general such a phenomenon?
Davis: It looks really cool, and it's a beautiful tool.
BOM: Is traditional, two-dimensional animation dead?
Davis: I don't believe it's dead. Right now, it's difficult to make a 2D movie; the way budgets are right now. It's expensive to make a 2D movie that would be a good financial risk because the market seems to be enamored with 3D. You could do something like Team America. Steamboy's coming out. You're going to see some different types of 2D movies.
BOM: Is there a checklist of ingredients, like a formula, for 3D-like animated pictures?
Davis: Nothing explicit. But I do think you find that there are certain constructs and that formulas happen and they are helpful in telling a movie. Comedy is a big part of it. But these movies need to be telling an emotionally resonant story. Beyond that, there are no rules.
BOM: What's the most important element?
Davis: Characters that you love—that you relate to and want to meet.
BOM: Why do computer-animated features rely so heavily on pop culture references and celebrity voices?
Davis: I don't agree with the premise that they do. We have some and I'm hoping that they're more classical [references that stand the test of time]. Big celebrity casts are a part of it. Yes, we have a huge cast [in Robots], and there are many celebrities who are just celebrities but not voice actors. But we cast great voice actors who happen to be celebrities. And, yes, it is helpful to open a movie that has celebrities.
BOM: Disney's classics didn't have celebrities, and they've stood the test of time. Will something like Shrek stand the test of time?
Davis: I think so.
BOM: Besides Ice Age and Robots, what animated features do you like?
Davis: I am a big fan of the Toy Story movies. Of course there's The Iron Giant. I love the Pixar movies, and I think Shrek and Shrek 2 are terrific.
BOM: What are your personal favorite movies?
Davis: I love popcorn movies. I love Jaws. The last movie I saw in theaters was Sideways, which was great.
BOM: Why do you think Robots isn't performing as well as Ice Age, or Shark Tale for that matter?
Davis: We have very substantial competition from The Pacifier. Ice Age had no such competition. Kudos to Disney for opening The Pacifier so strong. I'm pretty confident [Robots' box office business] will pick up.
BOM: What projects does Blue Sky have in the pipeline?
Davis: Ice Age 2 is in production. We're looking at literary sources such as Dr. Seuss, but we will continue to look at projects with a fantastical element that makes use of the [computer generated] medium.
BOM: Since 1995, there have been one or two computer-animated features released in a given year. Now we're seeing five or more a year. Do you think people will tire of computer animation? Will the format lose its event status?
Davis: I worry about that a little bit. As long as they are entertaining, audiences will go.
RELATED ARTICLES
• REVIEW: Robots
• INTERVIEW: Iron Lion - An Interview with Tim McCanlies
• 3/4 - 'Robots' Rivets, 'Passion' Fails to Rise Again
• 2/24 - 'Bambi' Banks on a New Generation
• 2/24 - From 'Bambi' to 'Rugrats'
• REVIEW: Bambi on DVD
RELATED LINKS
• Blue Sky Animation Studios
• 'Robots' Official Web Site
• Book: The Iron Giant
• Books by Dr. Seuss
Davis, whose career includes work on and off Broadway as well as for the annual Tony Awards telecast, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., talked to Box Office Mojo about Robots, The Iron Giant and what it takes to make today's top animation for movies.
Box Office Mojo: What was the first animated picture you saw?
Jerry Davis: Bambi, which my mother dropped me off at the movie theater to see. I remember being a bit frightened by it and, when I walked out of the theater, very excited to be reunited with my mom.
BOM: When did you first screen Robots?
Davis: I saw it in February when we finished the mix on the Fox lot. It's about as good as you're ever going to see it on the big screen with big, comfy couches. For me, it was a giant leap to watch it on film. There was so much going on in the frame that even I had not been aware of. It was just thrilling.
BOM: What is your favorite scene?
Davis: Probably the final scene in Rivet Town.
BOM: What are your thoughts on the final cut?
Davis: Comedy is a great thing, and I don't regret that it's dominant. As Robin Williams said at the Golden Globes, comedy is hard, and I'm proud of the fact we succeeded. Robots is also a fantasy and that's also hard because the audience needs to understand the rules, which requires screen time and, in a movie like this, there's not much screen time. We worked hard to make this movie. There were times when we were nervous because it's a very complicated movie. We tried to explain the story clearly and in an entertaining way. You're always struggling to take a step back and look at the movie as a whole. And it is pleasantly cohesive. I'm proud of it.
BOM: What is the movie's theme?
Davis: The movie's motto that "you can shine no matter what you're made of," which is a variation of [the cliché] "don't judge a book by its cover." For me, I guess the movie allows people to apply it on different levels. I find many parents respond to the idea of following a dream.
BOM: Why are you a producer?
Davis: That's hard to answer. For me, I don't have the vision to be a director. I have huge respect for people who do. So, to be able to support that vision is really rewarding. I love the process. I love the art form. I love that animated movies are something that people really care about and work their asses off [to create]. And, lastly, I can't draw. It's much more about the process. I'm the son of a Freudian psychologist who ran a school for emotionally disturbed children—I lived and worked there—and I grew up with a certain degree of craziness. So I know that artists need to be somewhat crazy, and I hope to bring some order to that process.
BOM: What did you contribute to Toy Story?
Davis: I was a part of the early development, so the deal with Pixar [Animation Studios] was fresh. I was involved in bringing in the first writing team, and it was very rewarding to identify such amazing talent. It would be hard to take ownership of any one aspect.
BOM: How did your path diverge from Pixar?
Davis: I was at Disney and then Warner Bros, which was pretty exciting—I spent five years there—where I started a feature animation division, which made movies such as [The Incredibles' director Brad Bird's first feature] The Iron Giant. We brought The Iron Giant into Warner Bros. and did a lot of the early development. I'd been talking to Tim McCanlies, who's a terrific writer with great characters, and he came in as screenwriter. We were struggling with how to adapt [Ted Hughes' book]. Brad [Bird] came in and really cracked it.
The book has a very different direction in the second half, and it was Brad who decided not to go with the [book's] second half, which goes off into this almost hallucinatory aspect with a space monster doing battle with the Iron Giant, who tries to save the earth. Brad found a way to express the free will aspect from the book. The Iron Giant began as a conversation with Des McAnuff, who was artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, who had collaborated with [rock musician] Pete Townshend [on an earlier stage adaptation of the book]. I was certainly key in that whole process.
BOM: How was working with Brad Bird?
{page}
Davis: Inspiring, though I wasn't with the movie through the whole production. He brought in some wonderful design ideas.
BOM: Do you worry that computer-animated movies are more design than story?
Davis: I love the design aspect of these movies. I personally love that stuff. But it doesn't compensate for the lack of story. There are a fair number of original ideas. We're working on the Horton books [by Theodore Geisel, who wrote children's books, such as The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by the name Dr. Seuss]. I really hope we can take the new tools and apply them to the classics.
BOM: How did Blue Sky Animation get the name?
Davis: From the expression, "let's sit down and blue sky this idea," like imagining what one could do with all the money and talent in the world.
BOM: Does Blue Sky make pictures before writing the script?
Davis: There is some variation from project to project but the writing usually happens before the drawing. Storyboarding happens after we have the writing.
BOM: Blue Sky's creative philosophy embraces the idea that "what was law an hour ago might not be law an hour later." Is everything malleable?
Davis: That is true within reason, but we are all governed by laws and schedules. You can finish a scene but you go back to it later with the idea, "How can you make it better?"
BOM: How does Blue Sky's proprietary software, CGI Studio, aid in the animation process?
Davis: The ray tracing is the engine to the software. That's what gives [computer animated movies like Robots] its look—because it imitates what light does in the real world—the shadows and textures look incredibly photo-realistic. I find myself forgetting that I'm watching animation. It's the miracle of the software. The guys in Research and Development are perfectionists; they're like artists but their art is writing software.
BOM: Another Blue Sky motto is: "We were once individuals—we are now part of the collective." Does collectivism define the company's philosophy?
Davis: It's funny because, in making a movie, there is a demand that artists become part of a collective with many creative people who have to come together under the director's vision. But I wouldn't say that, as a culture, as a place to work, it's a collective. People here are extremely outspoken. We screened [Robots] for the crew and people pulled no punches.
BOM: Why is computer animation in general such a phenomenon?
Davis: It looks really cool, and it's a beautiful tool.
BOM: Is traditional, two-dimensional animation dead?
Davis: I don't believe it's dead. Right now, it's difficult to make a 2D movie; the way budgets are right now. It's expensive to make a 2D movie that would be a good financial risk because the market seems to be enamored with 3D. You could do something like Team America. Steamboy's coming out. You're going to see some different types of 2D movies.
BOM: Is there a checklist of ingredients, like a formula, for 3D-like animated pictures?
Davis: Nothing explicit. But I do think you find that there are certain constructs and that formulas happen and they are helpful in telling a movie. Comedy is a big part of it. But these movies need to be telling an emotionally resonant story. Beyond that, there are no rules.
BOM: What's the most important element?
Davis: Characters that you love—that you relate to and want to meet.
BOM: Why do computer-animated features rely so heavily on pop culture references and celebrity voices?
Davis: I don't agree with the premise that they do. We have some and I'm hoping that they're more classical [references that stand the test of time]. Big celebrity casts are a part of it. Yes, we have a huge cast [in Robots], and there are many celebrities who are just celebrities but not voice actors. But we cast great voice actors who happen to be celebrities. And, yes, it is helpful to open a movie that has celebrities.
BOM: Disney's classics didn't have celebrities, and they've stood the test of time. Will something like Shrek stand the test of time?
Davis: I think so.
BOM: Besides Ice Age and Robots, what animated features do you like?
Davis: I am a big fan of the Toy Story movies. Of course there's The Iron Giant. I love the Pixar movies, and I think Shrek and Shrek 2 are terrific.
BOM: What are your personal favorite movies?
Davis: I love popcorn movies. I love Jaws. The last movie I saw in theaters was Sideways, which was great.
BOM: Why do you think Robots isn't performing as well as Ice Age, or Shark Tale for that matter?
Davis: We have very substantial competition from The Pacifier. Ice Age had no such competition. Kudos to Disney for opening The Pacifier so strong. I'm pretty confident [Robots' box office business] will pick up.
BOM: What projects does Blue Sky have in the pipeline?
Davis: Ice Age 2 is in production. We're looking at literary sources such as Dr. Seuss, but we will continue to look at projects with a fantastical element that makes use of the [computer generated] medium.
BOM: Since 1995, there have been one or two computer-animated features released in a given year. Now we're seeing five or more a year. Do you think people will tire of computer animation? Will the format lose its event status?
Davis: I worry about that a little bit. As long as they are entertaining, audiences will go.
RELATED ARTICLES
• REVIEW: Robots
• INTERVIEW: Iron Lion - An Interview with Tim McCanlies
• 3/4 - 'Robots' Rivets, 'Passion' Fails to Rise Again
• 2/24 - 'Bambi' Banks on a New Generation
• 2/24 - From 'Bambi' to 'Rugrats'
• REVIEW: Bambi on DVD
RELATED LINKS
• Blue Sky Animation Studios
• 'Robots' Official Web Site
• Book: The Iron Giant
• Books by Dr. Seuss
